Bass Fishermen, Like the fish they chase, tend to get locked into a familiar pattern. Once you get locked onto something that works you repeat it to no end.
For instance, it may make sense for a bass to rest in deep water. When the current starts moving in through the reservoir pull in behind a stump and watch for shad to move close by. These patterns seem to make sense until the fish stop biting.
As a fisherman it’s fine to repeat the same repetitive method over and over. Repeating successful patterns learned in the past is fine, as long as the fish are biting. If they aren’t biting you can even move to another part of the lake and repeat your pattern. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. Isn’t that the joy of fishing?
Learning How To Problem Solve
Part of what really makes fishing fun is problem solving. Changing up the little things to find a solution for “lockjaw”. Maybe you change for a carolina rig to texas rig, spinnerbait to a crankbait to a vibrating bait to a jig.
There’s nothing wrong with changing gears and trying to find what works. Fishing the same old lures tends to burn good fisherman out. That’s certainly tends to be the case with slow rolling.
Slow Rolling For Bass
The technique known as slow rolling, is a method of slowly retrieving a lure along the bottom or over the weeds. Synonymous with spinner baits, but it’s often the last thing bass want to hit.
When bass want a slow lure close to the bottom, the flash and rattle of spinner baits can be the last thing they hit. It can even scare them off under certain weather conditions.
During a cold front when the waters cool everything moves a little bit slower. In the cool water of spring and late fall the extra flash of a spinner bait can be down right repulsive to bass.
The extra rattle will further scare even the biggest fish away. Crawling with a quieter less intrusive bait may be just the ticket. Less intrusive bait moving slowly along the bottom is more natural in the cold.
Other Slow Rollers
When the spinner bait dies bass pros quickly switch to other lures. Follow-up baits can draw in unsuspecting bass uninterested in fast moving lures.
There’s a wide variety of Plan B lures that are great slow rollers. From vibrating baits to crankbaits to jigs and soft plastics.
Add Some Slow Rolling Variation
When your bites start to slow down consider changing up your technique. Throwing in a little variation will really make you think about how to fish different lures. Try rigging up a soft jerkait on an open hook and casting it out. Let it sink to the bottom and slow roll it back in. Don’t do anything else, no twitches or jerks, simply real in slowly. It’s a great technique whenever bass are holding near deep cover or chasing balls of shad.
Best Spinnerbait Alternatives
Use Slow Swimming Jigs
When fishing in and around cover you might want to try a simple jig. I prefer a basic white Riverside jig that reminds me of shad. Rather than pitch it or flip it around, I slowly swim it along the bottom. Pairing it with a very large trailer will give it extra buoyancy, allowing it to glide along the bottom. Fishing the white jig in and around cover will make the lore resemble a shad or other baitfish spawning or looking for cover.
A light colored jig makes a great alternative to a spinnerbait. It looks enough like a baitfish that bass will chase it down. I like to fish the jig in and around cover. You’ll have a lot of luck around laydown timber and other wood. Don’t always swim it slowly. When the jig hits cover or crosses over the top of a log I like to reel like crazy. Try and make the jig show a burst of speed acting like a trigger for fish holding near cover. I prefer a reel that has a really fast retrieve speed allowing a sudden burst of speed.
Crawling Lizards
Crawling lizards make another great slow rolling spinnerbait alternative. Choose a lighter green colored lizard that creeps along. You’re going to want a barely moving lizard, using a steady retrieve. Think about it, it has a natural profile, lots of buoyancy and 5 tails for swirling and twirling. When the bite dies a lizard bait will throw some variation into your routine.
Fish your favorite lizard around scattered cover around 2-5 feet deep. When there’s a lot of submerged vegatation in deeper water you might want to switch to a lipless crankbait. Fish with a very slow retrieve letting the lizard swim as close to the bottom or top of the grass as possible. If you can’t feel the grass slow down a little, and if you start to hang up just increase your speed.
Lazy Crankbaits
You can use a crankbait as another slow rolling alternative. The real truth is that almost any lure can be deadly if you slowly move it along the bottom. It doesn’t matter if its large or small any crankbait can be slowly cranked back close to cover. I like to take a suspending crankbait and throw it out far on a heavy line. Then I’ll slowly crawl it across shallow cover with lots of wood. Try and adjust the weight until your bait is a little bit buoyant. That way they’ll slowly begin to float once you stop cranking. I try to crank the bait down to the wood structures, then slowly reel until you feel it build up pressure.
Spoons and Spiders
Spoons and spiders are another lure that I should definitely mention. They work great using a slow roll retrieve. I like to pair a silver minnow spoon with a spinnerbait trailer and just slowly move it along. Not only is it completely weedless, it catches a ton of fish. For fishing deep water you can try a football head jig combined with a skirted double tail spider grub. Vary up the weight of the jig head to adjust to any water depth. It’ll drag over rocks without falling deeply and getting lodged. With such a versatile lure you can fish it any way you want. You can even switch up the color to further differentiate the fish you attract.